The Laboratory for Engineering of Application and Development of Control and Automation (LEAD) from COPPE / UFRJ is the first Latin American laboratory to be accredited by the American standardization institution FieldComm Group. LEAD, which is linked to the Electrical Engineering Program of COPPE, will now be able to offer courses following the FOUNDATION™ Fieldbus protocol training program (FCTP - FOUNDATION Certified Training Program). The first course that is to be given by LEAD is "Installations, Certification and Diagnostics of Industrial Networks". This training course is "Physical Layer Installer". Furthermore, the Laboratory is seeking certification of other courses in the "Professional" and "Technical Specialist" categories.

The courses aim to impart up-to-date know how with the participants on installation, modules and diagnostic software as well as certification of industrial networks according to the FieldComm Group norms. There will be 20 hours of instruction, with an emphasis on practical classes, and a maximum of eight students per class. The target participants for the course will be engineers, engineering technicians, technologists/technicians, system integrators, instrumentation and automation engineers and technicians, commissioning specialists and instrumentation technicians who wish to up-date their knowledge concerning installations and diagnostics of networks. The LEAD website will soon provide further information on certification by the FieldComm Group and on the training courses to be offered. The costs, regulations and dates of the courses will also be announced soon.